Director, Experience Design @ well-known, late stage HR Tech startup with incredible VP Design

Hybrid onsite 3 days/week onsite in their lower NYC office with sweeping views

Comp: $250-282K base + strong equity package + world-class benefits

Chances are, if you've worked for a startup or other established small-to-medium-sized business, you're probably already highly familiar with our client!

They're a late-stage (Series E, pre-IPO) HR Tech startup in an exciting stage of growth, and with great name recognition in the tech space. They provide SMBs - including many in the tech industry - high-quality, enterprise-level health insurance and payroll tools that smaller businesses and their employees wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

They also have an incredible culture, rooted in honesty, openness, integrity, friendliness, no-ego, and inclusion – “collaboration” isn’t just a a word on a cheesy poster in their hallways – it’s the way they roll at their core. It’s truly a dreamy place to work, and this is a golden opportunity to lead them at a very high level.

Their street cred:

Fortune magazine named them to their Best Workplaces in New York list 5 times, and they’re also on BuiltIn’s list of “NYC Best Large Companies to Work For".

They’ve been around for 10+ years and are an important player in the $40B HR Tech industry. They’re secured $160M in funding from top VCs including Bain, Thrive, Union Square Ventures.

Their star is rapidly rising; it’s a great time to get in the door! They recently expanded into global markets and have grown consistently and intelligently year over year. They’re currently at 1300 total employees, with 30+ Designers, doubling their Product org in the last 2 years. They’re now adding a full suite of products to their already well-known core product, so they’re in a great place for continued growth and visibility!

What’s Happening There in Design:

They’ve recently hired their first-ever VP of Design, who we’ve known for years and ADORE. We can attest that he’d be a dream manager! His arrival there is a great signal for their investment in Design and respect for the discipline.

We’ve helped this VP grow his teams through the years and seen them all shine under his leadership. He’s empathic, strategic, supersmart, a thought leader in the space, and his design teams adore and trust him. Plus, he’s got a great sense of humor  – which makes for a super enjoyable work vibe!

The Role:

They’re seeking a fulltime, seasoned Experience Design Director for their Employment Experience team, to work onsite 3x / week in their lower NYC office.

The Employment Experience team is hugely important one – it owns multiple teams under it that are responsible for all the user-facing aspects of their offerings – so it’s a super high-visibility, impactful role at a similarly high-visibility company! 

You are a collaborative, visionary design leader with relevant B2B or SaaS  experience, 7+ minimum years of management experience (with at least 3 years of managing Managers), a proven track record of managing teams of 10-15 people, and have 10+ years of applicable experience designing software products and experiences, with some experience in SaaS or B2B companies.

You’ve most likely already been operating at a Director level or equivalent for at least a few years. This isn’t a role for someone looking to stretch up into it; they need someone highly seasoned with a longstanding, proven track record of leadership, who can come in and start creating value for both the company and your teams right away.

While you do still keep a portfolio and you have a strong sense of craft, this is not a largely hands-on design role, nor is it a “player-coach” situation. This role is for a visionary Leader with a capital L, who has experience collaborating, creating connections, and driving initiatives at the highest levels of the business. That said, you know how to use Figma and other common design tools so you can jump in and help out where needed.

You are a compassionate and supportive people manager who inspires design teams to do their best work, and you have regularly created and grown a Design culture within an org.

You know what growth looks like, and “growth” could mean customer acquisition and retention, as well as seeing a company through their own growth – ideally you have the experience to help take a 1300 person org into, say, a 2-5K size one, and you have a (mostly) clear playbook of how to get there.

You have a strategic mindset and lean on data to inform and track business goals.

An excellent communicator and enthusiastic collaborator, you work well with team members, external partners, and senior management. You use communication and presentation skills to engage, inspire and influence. You’re a fabulous storyteller!

What you’ll get to do in this role:

• Manage and develop 3 separate teams of 10 people total, including 3 Managers, influencing product direction and roadmaps in support of business objectives.
• Build strong, collaborative working relationships with leadership, product development, and product marketing teams to drive alignment on product vision, direction, and strategy.
• Partner with your peers in Experience Design as well as Director- and VP-level leaders across Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, Support, and Sales, to ensure delivery of customer value, product usability, feasibility, and business viability.
• Use your experience as a people leader to unlock the best in your teams to develop their skills and help them do the best work of their careers.
• Partner with others in Experience Design leadership to help define design culture, standards, guidelines, best practices, and processes.
• Understand company strategic goals, connecting these to your teams’ missions, weaving them into our product and design strategy to ensure that your teams’ investments and experiments are aligned with the needs of the company.
• Hire and retain top talent, focusing on attracting designers from various backgrounds and perspectives.

What they're looking for in your portfolio:

• You’ve got a portfolio of case studies demonstrating how you have used all of the above skills to lead teams to deliver exemplary design work to achieve meaningful business outcomes. We’d love to know the results / success metrics of your work, for both the business AND the end user.
• The level of design craft of your portfolio should exemplify what you consider to be ‘great design” and the kind of design that you want your design team to strive to achieve.

The ideal candidate has:

• 10+ years of applicable experience designing software products and experiences, with some experience in SaaS or B2B companies.
• 7+ minimum years of experience managing teams of designers to successful outcomes, and 3+ years managing Managers in a role of a comparable level.
• You’ve managed teams of 10 or more people in the past.
• Experience building balanced, high-performing teams through a combination of retaining and developing talent + strategically recruiting and hiring.
• Deep experience designing for complex workflows, ideally in human resources, healthcare, insurance, benefits, or related domains.
• Expertise in a wide range of design methods, and the ability to demonstrate and teach best practices.
• Practical understanding of how qualitative and quantitative research and data inform product and design decisions.
• Attention to detail, and a refined sense of craft in visual design, typography, and brand expression.
• The ability to build influence and alignment with cross-functional partners and stakeholders of all levels, including VP and C-Suite, across Engineering, Product, Research, Marketing, Data, and others.
• Executive presence and the ability to present to executive audiences with comfort and confidence.
• You are an empathetic listener who can give and receive honest, thoughtful feedback.
• You make space for reflection and proactive learning.
• You set high standards for yourself and others and are able to help others meet these with a growth mindset. You create psychological safety for your teams to grow.

Comp:

$250-282K base + meaningful equity + great benefits

Benefits:

World-class health insurance, unlimited PTO, a dog-friendly office, 16-week parental leave, full or partial coverage for Citibike / Talkspace / Headspace / Peloton / Classpass memberships, ERG groups, continued learning resources, fitness discounts, wellness room, and more.

TO APPLY:

Apply online here, or email us at team@joanneweavergroup.com with your resume, portfolio, current location, and desired comp range.

We'll get back to you if this feels like it could be a good fit for you!